When I first wrote this post I was currently preparing for my fourth carnival cruise. In the middle of packing, I realized that there few items on my packing list that I wished that I would have brought on my very first cruise. Here are five useful items to pack for a cruise.
Lightweight sweater: It can be cold in some areas of the ship during the evenings. I remember during my first cruise I wore a dress one evening to the comedy show and I was freezing. If you get cold easily I highly recommend bringing a sweater.
Power strip: One thing I noticed is that many of the rooms will only have one plug. If you have several people in a room, bringing a power strip is useful to plug in multiple devices. Just remember to get one without the surge protector.
Pop Up Laundry Bag/Hamper: Since all my previous cruises have been 7 days or less, I do not do laundry when I am on the ship. I like to have a laundry bag to keep dirty clothes in during the week.
Post-It Notes: If you have a two or more people staying in the same room and like to do different activities, it can be helpful to pack post-it notes. Use them to write notes for the people in your room or leave one on the mirror for your room steward.
Lanyard: Carnival gives everyone a sail and sign card that is also used as a key to your room. I like to bring a lanyard with me so it is easier to keep up with my card.
Here is a my current packing list that I am using for my cruise. Feel free to download and make changes if needed.
1.Open
a designated Saving and/or investment account
The easiest way to start
saving for your vacation is to open a designated savings account just for
travel. Check with your local bank to see what your options are, or you can
find a bank online. After you open an account, decide on how much you would
like to put into the account and how often. To make it easier to remember to
save money, make sure to set up automatic payments. You can also deposit any
extra money you receive, such as birthday cash and even your tax refund.
Another way to save is
to open an investment account. Since investment accounts have a higher return
than savings accounts, you can often make a larger profit over time. I
personally invest using an app called Acorns. Acorns helps you save money
by investing your spare change from your purchases, called round ups. Just by
putting away five dollars a month and saving the round ups, I have saved over
$800 during the past two years.
2.Collect
and Save All Spare Change
Do you have a lot of
spare change and not sure what to do with all of it? Start putting spare change
into savings. You will be amazed how even the smallest of amounts can add up
over time. First find a container to put your change in. You can buy a container such as a piggy bank
or you make one yourself using household items such as a can or glass jar.
Anytime you make a cash purchase and are given change back, take your change
and add it to your coin jar.
About one year ago, my
best friend and I drove to New Orleans to go on a cruise. A week before my trip
I emptied out all my spare change and cashed them in at a coin counting
machine. All my spare change that I have been saving for over a year added
almost to $60 cash. Even though $60 may seem like a small amount, it did pay
for a couple tanks of gas and snacks for the road.
3.Download
and use cash back apps
One simple way to save
money is to use apps that you can receive money back on goods that you
purchased. Some of my favorite cash back apps include SavingStar, Ibotta, and
Checkout 51. These apps are easy to use. Simply click on the items you plan to
buy, upload your receipt, and you get cash back for those items. Once you get
to $20 you can send the money to your PayPal account. I started using these
apps for about eight months and I have made about $80 back.
Another app that I
recommend is an app called Achievement. Achievement may not be a grocery cash
back app, but you can connect it to your Fitbit or other fitness apps, and you
get points each day for tracking your health. Once you get to 10,000 points you
can send $10 to your PayPal account.
4. Eliminate unwanted
expenses from your budget
If you want to save
money for your vacation, it is important to set a budget so you can designate a
certain amount to savings. If you are wanting to increase the amount you plan
to put into savings try cutting out unneeded expenses. First keep track of
everything you typically spend during a month. Are you spending too much money
eating out? Maybe you’re spending too much money on entertainment. Cutting
expenses that you can live without can help you put more money into savings.
5.Sell unwanted items
My last tip to make
extra money is to sell any items in your home that you longer need. Do you have
clothes that have been sitting in your closet for a long period of time that
you no longer wear? Try going to a secondhand store like clothes mentor that
will buy your clothes. If you have any games, CDs, or books that are just lying
around collecting dust you can make extra cash by selling them to half price
books. Last you can always have a garage sale to earn extra money. Try having
your garage sale sometime on a weekday. I have the most success on Thursdays
and Fridays. It is possible you may not make a lot of money for the item that
you sell but remember small amounts can go a long way.
I apologize that it has been months since my last post. During
the last several months I have been working full time and taking college courses.
Sadly, I had to put my blog on the back burner in order to get everything done.
I realized my blog goals were a little too ambitious at the start, but I plan on
trying to post at least twice a month if possible. I have some extra time during
this summer, and I am currently working on my next article which will be
published soon. Thank you to everyone who is subscribed to my blog.
This is my personal bucket list on the places I would like to see, tourist attractions I would like to visit, and the top fifty things I would like to do before I die. Please feel free to use my list as inspiration as you start to create your own bucket list. Just remember not to get too caught up on trying to get everything crossed out on your list. The most important thing about traveling is the memories and experiences that you make. Comment below what would you like to put on your bucket list.
Thank you so much for visiting my travel blog. I have so many plans for my website for 2019 and I just wanted to give a quick update about what you can expect to see on my blog for the next three months.
I am already planning to write articles about the countries I visited when I traveled abroad for a couple of weeks. By March, I will share my stories, photos, and recommendations over Budapest, Hungary, and Vienna, Austria. I also wanted to share strategies and tips on how you can save for your next upcoming vacation. Last, I will be making several blog posts about traveling in the Dallas and Fort Worth Area, including my recommendations on activities to do, places to eat, and landmarks to see.
If this is your first time on my website please read my previous article, titled, Welcome, to learn more about me and why I started this blog. If you click on the photography link above you can see some some of my photographs I took when I traveled to Europe. If you like my website, please follow me on email, Facebook, or twitter. Please feel free to give feedback on any of my posts and photography. Any feedback from you guys will help me improve my website. If you have any comments or concerns you can also email me by using the contact link above. Thank you so much and Happy New Year!
Hi and welcome to my travel blog. My name is Amber and I am from the big state of Texas and live with my two beautiful fur babies, Bear and Gracie, and best friend and roommate, Precious. This is my first time creating a blog and I am very excited about starting this new journey with you.
My passion for traveling all started when I was in middle school and joined girl scouts. For the first time I was able to travel out of state and I enjoyed a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas and Savannah Georgia. I was also accepted for a program called People to People, and was able to travel two weeks abroad to London, England and Paris, France. When I was in college, I studied abroad for a few weeks for a class and was able to visit four countries: Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Hungary. Since 2010, I also took three cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean.
For the past four years I have been working as a high school teacher and this past year I have been a part time college student. I started this blog because I know how difficult it can be to balance work, school, and family obligations while trying to save money and find time for a nice vacation. I plan on writing articles about tips and tricks for traveling on a budget and to share my adventures with you. So if you are someone who has a busy schedule and are on a budget I hope that my blog will eventually inspire and contain useful information for your future travels.
My goals for my blog are: In the fist two months I will have all my travel photos uploaded under my photography link, in the next six months to have at least 12-24 articles published and at least 50 email subscribers, and to have at least 100-500 email subscribers and 24-48 articles published by the end of the year. Please understand that none of this will be possible without you guys.
I want to make this blog the best it can be and I cannot do that without your help. I highly encourage you to leave feedback. This will help me improve the website and make sure I am writing articles that you will enjoy. If you have any questions, suggestions, or complaints please click on the contact link and send me an email. I will reply as soon as I can. Also if you like my blog please consider following me on facebook and/or twitter. Links can be found in the footer below.
Thank you so much and I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Kool Kat Travels 